Chapter 131 The Rival Is Not Just Ciel
At this time, Simon came in and said something to Francis. Francis' eyelids twitched and he gritted his teeth and said, "Is this true?"
"Yes!" Simon nodded and replied: "The military's 'Holt 60' is all purchased from the Charles Tractor Factory. There are currently 1,000 of them, and the unit price is 2,500 francs!"
Francis didn't say anything. He looked calm on the surface, but his heart was bleeding. He didn't even have the courage to calculate his losses.
"Master!" Simon suggested, "We still have a chance. If the military has such a big demand, we can recruit workers back to produce. We can produce 500 vehicles per month..."
Francis shook his head slightly. Simon might be a good housekeeper, but he was definitely not a good businessman.
"The military's needs have been almost met by this batch of tractors!" Francis said helplessly, "Next, our competitor is still Charles' Holt 75. Which one do you think the military will choose when faced with these two tractors?"
Simon was speechless. Even a fool would know that he should choose the "Holt 75" with more horsepower and faster speed.
In other words, Francis has been completely kicked out of the tractor industry by Charles!
It is hard to imagine that Francis, who had run a large factory of such a scale for decades and was shrewd and cautious and known as a business genius, was defeated miserably by a kid who had only been in business for more than a month and started from scratch!
It seemed that the only option waiting for Francis was to sell off the factory's redundant buildings and production lines, leaving only a small portion to fully produce tanks.
The embarrassing thing is, who would be willing to buy the outdated "Holt 60" production line?
It seems that only the Shire Tractor Factory would be willing to bid. They can upgrade some of their production lines and convert them into "Holt 75" production lines.
If Francis wants to sell it, he must go to Charles, otherwise, the production line will be thrown away as garbage!
Francis seemed to have thought of this as well. He snorted and his face became even gloomier.
How much will Shire spend on the production line?
Fifty thousand francs? Or even less...
Francis planned to discuss it with Grevi and Armand first. Maybe they would buy it, or maybe they knew someone who would be willing to buy it. Who knows?
The only thing Francis could be thankful for was that his noble "friends" did not abandon him!
However, when Francis' car was about to drive out of the factory, it was stopped by several French soldiers.
Simon, who was driving in front, turned around and explained: "They came to Bugang early this morning, saying that they were here to protect the safety of tank production!"
"Sir, your ID!" A lieutenant stood in front of the car with an expressionless face.
After he finished looking at the certificate handed to him by Francis, he turned his eyes to the document bag next to his seat and asked, "What is that?"
"You don't need to know!" Francis replied impatiently.
That was the blueprint of a new tank that he planned to take to discuss improvement plans with Grevi and others.
"It is necessary, sir!" The lieutenant said coldly, "Our mission here, in addition to protecting your safety, is to protect state secrets!"
Francis had no choice but to hand the briefcase to the lieutenant.
The lieutenant opened it, took out the document and glanced at it. He immediately became alert. He locked his eyes with Francis and asked, "This is..."
"Tank design!" Francis answered truthfully: "I plan to improve it..."
"I'm sorry, sir!" The lieutenant handed the design back to Francis: "You can't take it out. If you must do this, you need to file it in advance, detailing the content of the document, where it is going, and what the purpose is. We will send someone to go with you!"
Francis, who was not in a bad mood to begin with, instantly flew into a rage. He roared, "Lieutenant, I only produce tanks and sell them to you. You have no right to interfere with my freedom..."
He didn't finish his words, and the last few words gradually became lighter and finally disappeared, because the lieutenant had straightened up and put his hands on the gun box at his waist, and several guards in the front of the car also took their rifles off their shoulders.
The lieutenant's voice turned stern, with a hint of command in his tone: "I'm sorry, sir! You did sell us only tanks, but we paid and risked our lives to go to the battlefield. If the enemy knew the tank's weaknesses, our soldiers would die in droves on the battlefield. Do you still insist that this is your freedom?"
At the end, there was even a hint of murderous intent in the lieutenant's eyes.
Helplessly, Francis could only ask the butler to drive the car back and leave the tank design drawings in the villa.
This time, the lieutenant added a body search procedure. He said, "I have reason to suspect that you have the blueprint on you, sir. After all, it's just a piece of paper!"
Francis gritted his teeth and said nothing. He knew there was no point in saying anything to these guards!
…
When he arrived at Blyde Manor, the first thing Francis said was: "Can you remove the guards at my door? They are as annoying as flies. They almost cost me my life just now because of a blueprint!"
Armand knew nothing about this. He asked in confusion: "What guards?"
Grevy had been to Charles' factory and knew some of the situation. He sat in front of the stove and elegantly warmed his hands in the warm flames. He calmly asked, "Whose guard do you think that is?"
"Whose?" Francis didn't understand what this meant. "Isn't he sent by the government?"
"They are Gallieni's confidants, Francis!" Grevy laughed. "They are used to protect Charles!"
Francis suddenly realized, Charles, it was Charles again, everything was Charles!
Then he thought again, Pierre's military service had clearly been arranged, so why did something go wrong suddenly?
Obviously, it’s also Ciel!
Francis felt that he had been fooled, and he even wanted to settle the score with Charles immediately.
But Grevi didn't care about that at all. He took off his white gloves and threw them on the coffee table next to him. He stood up and walked to the stove. He stared at the fire and said thoughtfully: "We are in trouble, gentlemen. Our competitors are not just Charles!"
Francis looked at Grevi in confusion. He didn't believe that anyone other than Charles could produce tanks.
Grevy then gave the answer: "Schneider, gentlemen! They have received support from Chaffee and the Automotive Technical Service Department and are developing a new type of tank!"
Everyone was shocked!
Schneider is a long-established French military-industrial enterprise that produces artillery and warships. It has capital, strength and technology.
Joffre was the Commander-in-Chief of France.
The Department of Automotive Technical Services is the government department that manages military vehicles.
With the three of them together, it seems that no one can compete with them!
(End of this chapter)
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